The Road Not Taken
by Rivers of Angelic Roses
Summary: Hinamori Momo. A girl with no means to have to face such a difficult choice. One-shot.


_Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And sorry I could not travel both, and be one traveler, long as I stood. And looked down as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth. _

It was one of those days where everything seemed sad. The training grounds lay empty, the barracks were quite, and her room was quiet. It was a dark time for all of Soul Society. The rain, which was numbing she would've gladly welcomed. Something to escape from. Something that would ease her troubles and wash them away. Momo, for one shinigami was torn. Who to choose? Who to fight? But one question was the most concerning to her, and her choices were not as simple as one might portray. Two people, no...two men, one girl. The question still remained. And as soon as it was answered, she'd no longer have to ponder.

Who to love?

_Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that the passing there has worn them really about the same. _

Everything was in front of her. Her choices and her life. Where was she to go? If she chose Aizen...she would surely die by the hands of trusted ones. But...if she chose Toshiro she would be seen as a fighter in the war, someone who they could depend on. She knew what her division needed. They needed Hinamori Momo, their lieutenant. She deeply cared about both of the men. They were similar, but not the same. They provided her with what she needed and what she wanted. Momo needed someone to lean on, and Aizen would only push her away. Toshiro would embrace her and calm her deepest fears. Maybe even care about someone such as herself.

The door creaked open to reveal one Hitsugaya Toshiro. You, dear readers, are either hoping that she took the right road. The right choice. Maybe her choice wasn't all that bad. What would you do in her situation? The answers are there, but the choice remains. His eyes were dull and dark. His stance and position told her everything that she needed to know. He regretted something. He tried to look as normal as possible, but his teal eyes were just so...sad and lonely. It could make even the coldest woman on the planet melt into sympathy.

_And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, how I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. _

Neither of them spoke a word. The rain making the moment so surreal, and she felt as if her heart would burst out of her chest. The way he drew back slightly from her made him seem so clandestine. Aizen was the one she worked for and cared about. The one who made her feel safe from harm. Toshiro on the other hand used to be her childhood friend. Now she deemed him as her knight in shining armor. The captain's thoughts were very melancholic. And as he thought this, he though that the word had a melody. A sad melody, but a beautiful one nonetheless. The world he was in was indeed melancholic, but as a captain he needed to be strong even when he felt at his weakest. Not that he liked to appear soft to others, it's just that he did not enjoy feeling desperate.

And that was the worst type of melancholic secret to keep.

Momo was wondering once again. She didn't know what to do. Aizen was everything to her. Emphasis on everything, but now...Toshiro was her whole world. He had tried his best to protect her from harm from the very beginning. Though, he was one who protected those he cared about and couldn't bear to lose them. Aizen or Toshiro? Good or evil? Death or life? Her question still remained unanswered.

"Momo." He greeted. He didn't want to look into her eyes. It reminded him of his failure over and over again.

"Shiro." She said quietly. Even in the darkest of times, they were each other's light. "I know that you're in a state of regretting." She said quietly once again. His head snapped up and their eyes finally met. Hazel touching teal. Two colors that should not meet, but still exist in a harmony.

"What's there to regret?" He tried to cover it up, but she always knew how to see right through him. No matter the circumstance.

"The letter...and for not protecting me." His heart suddenly felt like it had plummeted into the deep, cold, dark abyss. "Shiro...it doesn't matter that you didn't protect me. I can protect myself." His anger suddenly bubbled up inside of him, and he couldn't help but begin to shout at her.

"It doesn't matter?" He growled. "You couldn't protect yourself from Aizen! You couldn't even bother to help your division since that incident!" She was now angry.

"That doesn't mean that you have to go die for me, Shiro!" She shouted. "I don't want to keep living after you die, knowing that I only lived because of you!" Toshiro's eyebrow twitched.

"Momo, I made these choices myself! You can't protect yourself all the time! Look at what you are now!" As soon as the words left his lips, he regretted it. There was a pause. Tension rose in the room. Momo and Toshiro glared at each other. Her withdrawal from the argument surprised him.

"...What am I now?" She whispered. "I'm nothing...I can't even face Aizen. I can't do anything!" Tears brimmed the corner of her eyes. "I couldn't do what you did, Shiro!" He gaped slightly. "You were able to take care of me and face Aizen all by yourself! What did I do in that time? Nothing!" And the floodgates let loose. "I can't even choose..." She muttered.

"Momo." He said. "I protect you because you mean everything to me. I wanted to save you because the world wouldn't be the same without you in it." He said. She looked at him in surprise. "You are my world." The silence followed once again.

"...Shiro..." She said in awe. He always knew how to answer her questions. She sprung up from her bed and hugged him tightly. "I care about you too." She whispered in his ear. She pulled back and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. His eyes widened in shock before deepening it.

_I shall be telling this with a sigh_ s_omewhere ages and ages hence:_ _Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-__I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference._


End file.
